Part Ⅲ Reading Comprehension (40 points)

　　Passage 1

　　Most young people enjoy some form of physical activity. It may be walking, cycling or swimming, or in winter, skating or skiing. It may be of some kind football, hockey (曲棍球), golf, of tennis, it may be mountaineering.

　　Those who have a passion for climbing high and difficult mountains are often looked upon with astonishment. Why are men and women willing to suffer cold and hardship, and to take risks on high mountains? This astonishment is caused probably by the difference between mountaineering and other forms of activity to which men give their leisure.

　　Mountaineering is a sport and not a game. There are no man-made rules, as there’re for such games as golf and football. There are, of course, rules of a different kind which it would be dangerous to ignore, but it is this freedom from man-made rules that makes mountaineering attractive to many people. Those who climb mountains are free to use their own methods. If we compare mountaineering and other more familiar sports, we might think, that one big difference is that mountaineering is not a ‘team game’. We should be mistaken in this. There are, it is true, no ‘matches’ between ‘teams’ of climbers, but when climbers are on a rock face linked by a rope on which their lives may depend, there is obviously teamwork.

　　The mountain climber knows that he may have to fight forces that are stronger and more powerful than man. He has to fight the forces of nature. His sport requires high mental and physical qualities.

　　A mountain climber continues to improve in skill year after year. A skier is probably past his best by the age f thirty, and most international tennis champions are in their early twenties. But it is no unusual for a man of fifty or sixty to climb the highest mountains in the Alps. They may take more time than younger men, but they probably climb with more skill and less waste of effort, and they certainly experience equal enjoyment.

　　41. Mountaineering is a sport which involves ________.

　　A. hardship B. cold C. physical risk D. all of the above

　　42. The main difference between a sport and a game lies in ________.

　　A. uniform B. activity C. rules D. skills

　　43. Mountaineering is also a team sport because ________.

　　A. it involves rules

　　B. it involves matches between teams

　　C. it requires mental and physical qualities

　　D. mountaineers depend on each other while climbing

　　44. Which of the following is true?

　　A. Mountaineers compete against each other.

　　B. Mountaineers compete against other teams.

　　C. Mountaineers compete against nature.

　　D. Mountaineers compete against international standard.

　　45. What is the best title for the passage?

　　A. Mountaineering.

　　B. Mountain Climbers.

　　C. Mountaineering Is Different from Golf and Football.

　　D. Mountaineering Is More Dangerous Than Other Sports.

　　Passage 2

　　There is a popular belief among parents that schools are no longer interested in spelling. No school I have taught in has ever ignored spelling or considered it unimportant as a basis skill. There are, however, vastly different ideas about how to teach it, or how much priority (优先) it must be given over general language development and writing ability. The problem is, how to encourage a child to express himself freely and confidently in writing without holding him back with the complexities of spelling?

　　If spelling become the only focal point of his teacher’s interest, clearly a bright child will be likely to play safe. He will tend to write to write only words within his spelling range, choosing to avoid adventurous language. That’s why teachers often encourage the early use of dictionaries and pay attention to content rather than technical ability.

　　I was once shocked to read on the bottom of a sensitive piece of writing about a personal experience: This work is terrible! There are far too many spelling errors and technical abilities in writing, but it was also a sad reflection on the teacher who had feelings. The teacher was not wrong to draw attention to the errors, but if his priorities had centered on the child’s ideas, an expression of his disappointment with the presentation would have given the pupil more motivation (动力) to seek improvement.

　　46. Teachers are different in their opinions about ________.

　　A. the necessity of teaching spelling

　　B. the role of spelling in general language development

　　C. the way of teaching spelling

　　D. the complexities of the basic writing skills

　　47. As used in the second paragraph, the expression “play safe” most probably means _______.

　　A. to spell correctly B. to write smoothly

　　C. to avoid using words one is not sure of D. to use dictionaries frequently

　　48. Teachers encourage the students to use dictionaries so that ________.

　　A. students will be able to write more freely

　　B. students will be more skillful in writing

　　C. students will be more confident in writing

　　D. students will be independent enough

　　49. The author’s tone is ________.

　　A. ironic B. practical C. satirical D. critical

　　50. This passage mainly discusses ________.

　　A. the necessity of spelling

　　B. the role of developing writing skills

　　C. the complexities of spelling

　　D. the relationship between spelling and the content of writing